In January 2011, we posted about Mark and Scott Kelly, two “starship sailors” — identical twin brothers who both graduated from merchant marine academies and went on to be astronauts in the US space program. Now, Scott Kelly is about … Continue reading
Category Archives: Lore of the Sea
We posted recently that Jacques Cousteau’s famous research vessel, Calypso, might be in danger of being sold or scrapped. The Calypso, however, may have a savior in Prince Albert II of Monaco. After a long legal battle, a French court ordered Francine Cousteau, … Continue reading
Maneuvering a square-rigged ship can be a highly choreographed performance requiring both skill and timing. Here is a well done video of the 1883 built Star of India tacking and wearing. Star of India tacking and wearing … Continue reading
David Hayes recently reviewed The Shantyman on his Historic Naval Fiction blog. Reposted with permission. If you want to be taken to the deck of a clipper in the mountainous seas of a southern ocean gale, Rick Spilman is the … Continue reading
Happy first day of Spring! The arrival of the vernal equinox happens to coincide with a solar eclipse, as well as with a “supermoon,” and here on the west bank of the Hudson River, a snowstorm designated “Winter Storm Ultima.” … Continue reading
Some say that Captain Mary Becker Greene is still watching out for the riverboat Delta Queen. Captain “Ma” Greene served for almost sixty years as master and pilot of some of the finest steamboats on the inland rivers. She died in … Continue reading
Since 2008, the 1927 built sternwheel steamboat Delta Queen has been tied to a dock in Chattanooga, Tennessee, serving as a hotel. Now, with luck and a considerable investment, the old steamboat may be returning to the rivers to carry passengers once … Continue reading
On this St. Patrick’s Day, it seems worthwhile to recall the story of another Irish saint, Brendan the Navigator, who is said to have sailed off on a seven year voyage across the Atlantic, from Ireland to the “Isle of the … Continue reading
We recently posted about the discovery of the wreck of the Japanese battleship Musashi, in the Sibuyan Sea off the Phillipines. The Musashi was the second of the Yamato class of battleships, which were considered by many to be the largest … Continue reading
A trailer of Sailing A Sinking Sea, a feature length film by Olivia Wyatt which recently premiered at the SXSW festival in Austin, Texas. It explores the lives of the Moken people, a small group of seafarers have kept their nomadic culture … Continue reading
After a long legal battle, a French court has ordered Francine Cousteau, the second wife of the late Jacques Cousteau, to settle outstanding yard bills of €273,000 and remove the RV Calypso from a Brittany shipyard or the shipyard will … Continue reading
When Alaric Bond wrote of the island of Saint Helena in the South Atlantic in his novel, The Torrid Zone, set during the Napoleanic wars, it was one of the most remote islands in the world. A recent rescue of … Continue reading
A Canadian woman was killed and two others were injured when a gray whale collided with their excursion boat off the resort city of Cabo San Lucas in Mexico. One report said that the whale breached and landed on the boat filled … Continue reading
The Howard Hughes Corporation, a real-estate firm based in Dallas, TX, is proposing a $1.5 billion redevelopment of the historic South Street Seaport in New York City. Their plan includes destroying several historic buildings and erecting a controversial 494-foot residential tower … Continue reading
How did a crew of highly skilled professionals, sailing the $6 million Team Vestas Wind in the current Volvo Ocean Race, succeed in hitting the Cargados Carajos shoals, in the Indian Ocean off Mauritius at 16 knots on the night … Continue reading